Less is More

This was shared with us this morning. It really puts some things into perspective. Especially right now for our family since we trying to figure out a new way of living and making it by.

Even the rich are catching on--it's not cool to consume--at least to make consumption such a central concern.

According to the N.Y. Times (3/10) Sacha Taylor, a regular on the New York charity gala circuit, is wearing a 10-year-old dress to the latest society party. Ethel Knox, married to a pediatrician, is cleaning out her closet and the "stuff" in her storage unit and giving it all away. "I just feel so decadent with all the stuff I've got," she explained.

Maybe all of us who have more than we need--and that includes me--are reassessing our spending habits and asking ourselves why we are living with more appliances, clothing, and even books than we actually use. Why do we act like squirrels, packing it away for a time when "I might need it," when 99 times out of 100, we won't? Why do we clutter our living space with material goods that also end up cluttering our minds and hearts? Living simply is not just a prudent financial move--it is a spiritual necessity.

Gandhi started his career in South Africa as a lawyer. Early pictures show him as a young dandy. But as he became committed to seeking justice for his colonized people, he traded in his fancy lawyer's clothes for a loin cloth. There is a lesson here. No, I'm not suggesting that we should all mimic Gandhi or stand in the village square like St. Francis and strip off every single thread of clothing. I am suggesting that many of us are beginning to recognize our part in the mindless consumption of the United States and are beginning to understand that our spirits will sustain this way of living no more easily than will our earth.

So what do we do, as individuals? We start where we are. We wear the 10-year old dress to the charity ball--and perhaps at some point later, we question the purpose of charity balls. We clean out our closets and give the stuff away--and then stop filling up the closet with new stuff. We get rid of the third, or even the second and the third, car--and see what it's like to meet the amazing variety of people who ride the bus and the streetcar each day.

Spiritually speaking, we're on the right track. We're all discovering that less is really more.

Marilyn Sewell